Brandy

Hmm, and here I thought that was blue-green algae. Interesting. I have a funny smelling tank that is doing something weird. I may have to give this a shot. BTW, the fish seem completely healthy.

It is an excellent starting point. ALSO regarding cold tolerance and soft water tolerance, (which leads to disease tolerance by reducing other stresses) one trick is to VERY gradually alter your parameters. Across generations. As you do so, you choose the strongest and healthiest to breed the generations which will be raised at the next level. This is a major undertaking. It takes years. I also remember that video by Cory, and yeah, it is a HUGE job. However, I can do this on a small scale with fish I order from a hard water state (looking at you, Texas) and within 1-2 generations the fish are robustly breeding in my conditions. The key is to initially match the home conditions and then gradually shift across months and months. I honestly think this is what has happened to these "weak" strains--they have become adapted to water that is drastically different, and then we plop and drop, assuming all will be well. Even drip acclimation is too fast for a pH and hardness shift from Texas (or Thailand!) to Seattle. They will adapt, but it will take a while. Go SLOW.

Generally I wait a few minutes--not long at all. If you are using easy carbon to spot treat plants you do not want to let them dry out. If you are able to take the item out, and the BBA is on something that can handle heat (rock, driftwood) I would just scrub and pour boiling water over it. In the case of the pre filter sponge and air line I think I would do that if they are removable. If you have an established 75g tank, even cleaning the filter sponges won't be a huge problem, bacteria will recolonize almost immediately, just feed lightly for a few days after. However, lights shining on your filter can encourage algae growth right where you don't really want it. Keep its cover on, and black out any LEDs with tape that shine on something that is not meant to grow!

Well, that is not ich. Some kind of ulcer, could be bacterial or viral, or possibly even fungal. I would start treatment with either aquarium salt or an antibiotic, depending on what you have access to. You might want to isolate the fish in a different tank as salt will kill your plants.

So. The water is starting to clear more. Some of the haze is due to hard water stains on the glass I was too lazy to scrape off. Snails and soft water will do the job for me with patience. And my kiddo brought me a present. There are 2 of these tiny little guys in there, brought home on an employee discount from a big box store that shall remain nameless in accordance with forum guidelines. They came straight from the shipper, and never touched the big box tanks. Employee perks for the win. Tank is not fully cycled, but parameters holding steady so far. I didn't quarantine as they are the only fish in the tank, but I'm NOT treating 125g for love nor money, so if they do pop up sick I'll have to catch them. Do as I say, not as I do...

Oh funny, I was literally JUST looking for something like that last week. The closest I could find was a golden wonder killi. The head is almost right, but the tail not so much.

Yeah, that would be reasonable, but it could just be bad luck. Everyone loses fish sometimes. In fact I got some guppies AND platies locally, 3 times, and lost them each to the same illness, but one of each finally had fry before they died and THOSE fry are bullet proof. Thus "proving" that it is my water, but not because my water is toxic, just that it is different. In my case it is very soft and acidic. I suspect the local breeder supplemented their livebearer water with minerals more than I did, and that was the problem. I now test the water the bag has, and sort of adjust mine to match initially, before gradually shifting it back across a few months. In that way I have ordered fish from Texas (land of liquid rock), and not lost any.

It could...where is the dirt from?

I think they are fun, until they overrun your tank, which means basically that you are overfeeding. I tried a bunch of ways to get rid of them, and the best solution I found was to put my siphon hose right next to my scraper blade and suck them up as fast as I got them off the glass. That was pretty much as fast, easy, and safe as possible.

Those parameters sound reasonable...you say it is "a little harder", how much and why? If it is just lack of water changes, I would do several to see if it comes down. If not, I would wonder what ELSE might be in the tank contributing. Hardness tells you there are mineral particulates in the water, but not what kind they are. Maybe post a pic of the tank, or carefully consider any unusual decor... We only know about what we test for. When I moved, I suddenly lost a BUNCH of shrimp in just one tank. They just bailed out of the tank, or died. Turns out the new house has all copper pipes, and that tank was the first I moved, so I used prime in the water instead of my filter, which was not set up yet (shrimp are especially sensitive to copper). My tests all looked great of course, and I was fairly confused for a little bit.

I would choose oscars also--Lemon tiger oscars that get the size of electric blue acaras. Or maybe just slightly larger. Or a gold sevrum that would NOT shred my plants?

Alternatively, it is possible to presoak the leaves, as I think @Streetwise sometimes does. In his case he wants extra tannins, but in mine I would be discarding the first water change to keep tannins lower. The leaf litter is so awesome for your tank I would really try to find a way to use the real stuff.

I have plants I collected out of a local lake. They are illegal to sell in WA, as they are invasive, but they do grow fast in my aquarium, improving water quality no end. I am not advocating this exactly, and to be responsible you should never share them or let them get back into a local body of water. I am not even going to tell you which things I happened to find. But I figure I have removed some small portion of invasive plants from the ecosystem, and as long as they never leave my tanks I am not contributing to their spread. Check your local noxious weed control board, and be responsible if you choose this course. A handful collected from the lake margin and stuffed into an empty sandwich bag at a picnic was enough to experiment with what would and would not thrive.

Ahhh, the ugly duckling phase... Tucked in some Vallisnaria, rock caves, driftwood--and an extra slab of rock because the wood is still trying to float. Dust haze still ongoing, now with tannins starting to leach from the wood. After waiting this long to fill it I just want to put fish in, it is so hard to be patient!

This is always a struggle for me. Mostly I think top dwellers are kinda dull. Some day I'd like to get into killiefish, but pretty sure they would be lunch. Gravel added. Now waiting for dust to settle.

Your water is hard and your nitrates are high. Ideally you will lower both of those things for neons...test tap water, and check that it is not full of nitrates at the tap. If it is not you should change water to lower your nitrates. If your tap water IS full of nitrates, then you probably want to add some plants, such as pothos or floating plants, that will use it up for you, or you want to use some distilled water or rainwater to change the water.

and MTS....

Waiting on electrical and plumbing updates--in Seattle you work outside until the rain starts, now I have the bandwidth to consider interiors!

I am pretty sure the magic plants are exactly what has been saving my bacon this whole time. I will go with lower stocking, more plants, and the matten, because I am wicked lazy and there is literally no easier type of tank to maintain. The flow rate is pretty high, even though I have it turned all the way down. I am just trying to work out how you get algae eaten when you have a tank full of snail eaters! I may have to break down and get a bristle nose pleco. I am hoping the MTS can hold out, but I am pretty sure I am sending them to their doom. Really, not bad at all. I have siliconed little black plastic tabs in the corner, then I took a big sponge mat and stuffed it behind the tabs, and dropped the pump behind, lifter tube out thru a slit I cut in the mat with a paring knife and bob's your uncle. The space has room to hide a small heater too...just planning on bumping up a few degrees as it is a heated room, so I think that will be enough. When you do water changes you can suction out the sponge in place, but once in a blue moon you can just pull the lifter tube out, and lift the sponge mat out to a bucket. Maybe if I was doing a no plants, highly stocked tank it would be a problem, but I am fairly convinced the sponges are just for polishing, and the plants are really what maintains my water quality. I lost a pump during or two during the move and didn't know they had quit for weeks (or more). No water changes, just top offs, continued feeding...then I noticed mulm building up. Parameters were perfect, fish were fine, no filter at all essentially, in multiple tanks. Plants were overgrown and some even bloomed above the water.

Hi. Long time no see. It has been a trip, getting the house to be functional and I am more than ready for the fun part. We finally reinforced the floor, and filled the 125 gallon in the living room. So far, I have a corner matten filter powered by an 800GPH submersible, a thin layer of dirt capped with ~75lb black diamond sand, lights and nothing else. Blank slate. I need more sand/gravel...Hard scape (may use granite slabs and round river rock, which will help anchor plants), plants....a cover, possibly a heater. pH will be low 6.5-7.4, hoping to keep temps 76-78F. Stocking list so far (fish I have in other tanks): Electric Blue Acaras-- I have 2 adults and 10 juveniles, but not keeping all. One blue marbled angel--need more, some one should trade me for acaras. 10 adult albino corydoras As many maylasian trumpet snails as I can dig out of my other tanks--need more! Wishlist: more angels--5-6 total planned. blue and yellow colors. otocinculs or ? Synodontis eupterus--but this may be too big and agressive for the otos...? other chiclids have been considered, mostly geophagus and severums, or dwarfs like apistos, and in a brief crazy moment a lemon tiger oscar, but they are: too big for the tank will eat the otos possibly too small for the acaras hurt plants Planning simple hardy plants, anubias, bolbitis, java fern, valisnaria, frogbit, hornwort maybe, and trying to balance larger fish appetites with and not wanting to get anything that will eat Otos. If only there were a readily available giant oto... Help me solve my stocking issue, I want algae eaters that will stand up to the acaras, and if possible the Synodontis eupterus (I want my own pooka). Dithers are optional, there is enough going on in the tank. I am mostly becoming aware just how difficult it is to keep a tank clean with Acaras in it--they eat the snails I usually rely on, and while they have not bothered the otos yet, they could. The corys get the spilled food alright. Open to suggestions, really want it to stay clean-ish....The acaras are VERY messy. #noplecos

Finally reinforced the floor. 125g completely blank canvas.

outside they are about 12.5"x12.5"x24", so they remind me of miniature 40 breeders.

Yeah, sculliosis, as @Colusays is the correct term for a "bad back" that I was referring to. Guppy spines commonly degrade with age, probably due to the need for a bit more calcium and excess finnage they have been bred for. Generally you see it in older females but some individuals look like a hockey stick they are so bent. It makes them slower at swimming but they don't seem to have a reduced quality of life.

He has a big tail and a slender caudal support. In short, he's genetically predisposed to a bad back. He's fine, but if you are breeding for sale or show he should not be part of your program. This is just a common defect in guppies, kinda like how a pug dog or an English bulldog can be prone to breathing and sinus trouble due to the shape of their face. He'll be a great, happy pet. If your water is very soft and low in calcium you might want to add coral or wondershell for guppies, also.

So, I'm doing a lot of other things, because so much is weather dependant in Seattle... But I have not forgotten! I bought a linear piston pump and I will take pics of my slow build out. Also, I scored an incredible deal on brand new tanks and two used ones... This will bring me to 6x40g, 2x 29g 1x 20h, 5 x 15g, and 7x10g. Oh, and the as yet empty 125g in the living room. Picked these up last night at midnight.